DAQ, Testing & Sensors

Articles: Aerospace

Simulating and Analyzing Flow for an Air-to-Air Refueling System

Long-range bombers may have missions halfway around the world. Fighter jets may have to stay in the air longer than their relatively small fuel tanks will allow, or may find...

INSIDER: Aerospace

Laser-Based Navigation Sensor Could be Standard for Planetary Landing Missions

A laser-guided navigation sensor that could help future rovers make safe, precise landings on Mars or destinations beyond was developed at NASA’s Langley...

Articles: Communications

Using High Bandwidth Oscilloscopes to Analyze Radar and Electronic Warfare Systems

Whether for multi-channel analysis, or for wider analysis bandwidth in a measurement, high bandwidth oscilloscopes offer an alternative to traditional...

Articles: Communications

Bio-inspired Airborne Infrastructure Reconfiguration (BioAIR)

Conventionally, most autonomous mobile nodes, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are operated remotely by human operators. As such, forming a mobile communication network...

INSIDER: Aerospace

Air Force Is Developing Mach 18 Wind Tunnel

The Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel 9 team is conducting tests in support of risk reduction for a new test capability that will be revolutionary for AEDC...

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Software Gives Bomb Techs X-Ray Vision

In the chaos that followed the terrorist attack at the 2013 Boston Marathon, bomb squads scanned packages at the scene for explosive devices. Two homemade pressure cooker bombs had killed three...

Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Portable 3D Scanner

Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence (North Kingstown, RI) has released the new Leica Absolute Scanner LAS-20-8, a portable laser scanner for large volume inspection applications such as automotive sheet metal, aerospace...

Articles: Defense

Fiber Optic Multi-Sensing Platforms

Eventually, technology advances to the point where solutions that have been “good enough” for decades are no longer “good enough” for the innovations of today. The philosophy of “good enough”...

INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

Existing Navigation Data Can Help Pilots Avoid Turbulence

Detecting turbulence remains the Achilles' heel of modern-day aviation. The reports submitted by pilots, subjective and often very inaccurate, are the least expensive and the most...

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Alternative Found for Nuclear Weapon Detection

One of the most critical issues the United States faces today is preventing terrorists from smuggling nuclear weapons into its ports. To this end, the U.S. Security and Accountability for...

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Shrinking the Inside of an Explosion

Testing explosions is epic science. The most detailed studies of explosive charges have been conducted at national laboratories using a gun as big as a room to fire a flat bullet – the flyer plate,...

INSIDER: Lighting

NASA’s Pressure-Sensitive Paint Tests Aircraft Designs

NASA’s bright pink Pressure-Sensitive Paint (PSP) is helping to test new aircraft designs. A thin coat of PSP is sprayed onto the model that will be tested in the wind tunnel and...

INSIDER: Imaging

Advances in Vision-Aided Navigation Keep Soldiers on Track

The Army Materiel Command’s Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, or CERDEC, is using miniature cameras to create vision-aided navigation...

Articles: Aerospace

Analyzing Radar Signals with Demodulation

In the electronic warfare milieu, one of the most common RF applications is that of radar systems. Radar, which uses RF energy to determine the range, angle, and/or velocity of objects, detects...

Articles: Aerospace

Combining Software and Hardware for Highly Specialized Multichannel Spectrum Monitoring

Systems specifically designed for spectrum monitoring applications typically acquire RF signals from a reference antenna or downlink, analyze the shape...

Briefs: Aerospace

The Effect of Substrate Emissivity on the Spectral Emission of a Hot-Gas Overlayer

Recently, in operando optical investigations of high temperature solid oxide electrochemical cells (SOECs) have gained significant traction with several...

Briefs: Test & Measurement

Experimental Setup to Assess Blast and Penetration- Induced Secondary Debris in a Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) Environment

As part of Project Agreement on Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT), the US Army Research...

Briefs: Test & Measurement

Non-Contact Circuit for Real-Time Electric and Magnetic Field Measurements

An energized electric power cable generates low-frequency electric and magnetic fields that are related to the voltages and currents. Especially at wavelengths...

INSIDER: Test & Measurement

Coding and Computers Could Help Detect Explosives

A modern twist on an old technology could soon help detect rogue methane leaks, hidden explosives and much more. A Duke University team is using software to dramatically improve the...

INSIDER: Test & Measurement

Engineers Use Cyborg Insects as Biorobotic Sensing Machines

A team of engineers from Washington University in St. Louis is looking to capitalize on the sense of smell in locusts to create new biorobotic sensing systems that could be used...

INSIDER: Test & Measurement

NASA Tests Technologies to Increase Drone Uses

NASA researchers and drone industry representatives foresee a day when small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are used in wildfire spotting, precision agriculture, wildlife monitoring, and...

INSIDER: Imaging

New Technique Could Improve Detection of Concealed Nuclear Materials

Researchers have demonstrated proof of concept for a novel low-energy nuclear reaction imaging technique designed to detect the presence of “special nuclear...

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Engineers Design Novel Multi-Field Invisible Sensor

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has invented a novel camouflage technique that effectively hides thermal and electronic sensors without...

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Army Uses Technology to Increase Aerial Delivery Accuracy

Researchers at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory have developed a new system that will enhance the capabilities of U.S. Army Pathfinders as they conduct aerial operations. In...

Articles: Defense

Simulating Thermal Expansion in Composites with Expanded Metal Foil for Lightning Protection

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is comprised of more than fifty percent carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) due to the material’s light weight and...

Articles: Defense

Designing VME Power Systems With Standard Modules

Military electronics continue to push the performance envelope in all directions. Each new system design faces the same challenges: the need for more processing power, tighter specs, and...

Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Curled RF MEMS Switches For On-Chip Design

Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switches are active components in most electronic equipment. Radio frequency (RF) MEMS are used in wireless personal communication devices, satellite...

Briefs: Defense

Development of a Novel Electrospinning System with Automated Positioning and Control Software

Electrospinning is a nanofiber fabrication technique that has grown in popularity due to its potential in numerous biomedical applications. The...

INSIDER: Test & Measurement

Material Sniffs Out Fuel Leaks and Fuel-Based Explosives

Alkane fuel is a key ingredient in combustible material such as airplane fuel. Yet it’s difficult to detect and there are no portable scanners available that can sniff out the...